What cracks me up about this story isn’t that Tennessee cops can’t tell the difference between a marijuana leaf and the Ohio State symbol. It’s that they think drug dealers are stupid enough to advertise their wares on their cars.

Georgia Tech’s participation in the last ACCCG had the effect on FSU ticket sales you might have guessed. In other words, Chantastic!

“Our policies are no different than 90-percent of the other teams in the country,” Johnson told a group of reporters. “I mean, they make a big deal of it. It’s like ‘Will we lose some guys?’ Possibly it could happen, everybody does. But it’s a much bigger deal when we lose them because it’s our policies. I saw that the other school in the state has had five (de-commitments), and it’s no big deal. But if we lose one or two, it will be because of our policy.” [Emphasis added.]

He does have a lot on his mind these days, so is it possible he was just a little tongue-tied and forgot a name that happens to be part of his own school’s? Yeah, sure. Then again, maybe he’s referring to Georgia State. It’s all so clever.

I sure hope he hears about it when the other school in the state beats his ass for the fifth year in a row this November.

John Pennington looks at what’s coming on the horizon in this state, football-wise, and sees potential in Georgia State’s move to FBS football (and Georgia Southern’s attempt to do the same) to upset the status quo on the recruiting front.

Each February, more SEC football signees come from the state of Georgia than from any other state in the Union. That includes Florida, despite the fact that the Sunshine State produces more NFL-caliber talent year-in and year-out than the Peach State does. The explanation for that is pretty simple:

Ah, but things could get a bit tougher in the years ahead for all those schools who mine Georgia for talent. And don’t laugh too hard when you read this: Georgia State is moving to the FBS level this season and Georgia Southern is taking steps toward such a move down the road.

He raises some valid points there, but leaves out one which I think is relevant: Georgia Tech isn’t an attractive option to most high-profile in state recruits. Take a look at Scout’s Georgia database for the 2012 class. The Jackets signed one four-star recruit this year. Here’s the list of schools which equaled or bettered Tech’s results: Alabama (5); Auburn (3); South Carolina (2); FSU (1); LSU (1); Miami (1); Stanford (1); Tennessee (1); Virginia (1). That’s a total of sixteen, which is twice as many in state players as Georgia Tech signed total.

No, you don’t expect a school to sign them all, and, yes, Alabama is on a different plane than Georgia Tech is when it comes to what it offers to a top-ranked high school player, but that’s still a lot of bleeding.

My point here isn’t to mock Georgia Tech, believe it or not. As this post shows, over the last decade, Tech’s done a credible job getting in state players in its program to the next level.

Its no surprise that Georgia and Georgia Tech have signed the most players (28) from the Peach State to go on to be drafted after Scout.com started raking players in 2002.

That should be the basis for a well-honed sales pitch, but the reality is that Georgia Tech has become a less likely destination for the state’s best since Gailey’s best recruiting class. Here’s what the numbers look like for Tech’s four-star signees (per Scout) over the five classes leading up to this year:

2007 – 6

2008 – 1

2009 – 3

2010 – 2

2011 – 0

If high-end talent is the lifeblood of any successful major college football program, that’s a disturbing trend if you’re a Georgia Tech fan. And while it’s hard to see a newbie Georgia State program playing in the Sun Belt being a credible threat, you do have to wonder how much damage it could do to Tech’s recruiting with lower profile talent if it had someone more dynamic than Bill Curry running the show.

That’s where I see Georgia State (and Georgia Southern, too, if it gets that far) playing into what Pennington suggests. By my count, thirty schools outside of Georgia signed kids from this state with three-star ratings in their 2012 classes, and they didn’t all sign with Alabama. There’s some hay to be made, particularly if Georgia Tech isn’t up to the harvesting.

I haven’t said anything about Georgia so far. Here’s the four- and five-star signee numbers over the last six classes:

2007 – 7 (one five-star)

2008 – 9 (two five-stars)

2009 – 5 (one five-star)

2010 – 8 (one five-star)

2011 – 11 (two five-stars)

2012 – 5 (two five-stars)

Georgia has different concerns in recruiting than Tech does, as those numbers make clear. Georgia State isn’t likely to become as big a threat to Georgia’s in state efforts as Nick Saban already is. (Per Legge, Alabama signed only five players from Georgia before Nick Saban became head coach and have signed 25 players since.) Richt has to fight hard with other major programs for the élite talent – and if you’re into trends, it’s a good one that he’s already got commitments from four four-star Georgia high schoolers for the 2013 class – while Paul Johnson is looking at getting squeezed at the top and from below if Georgia State becomes a credible recruiting option.

Quote Of The Day

“It brings back a great Bulldog running back in Thomas who has NFL playing experience and has had success as a college coach at multiple schools. He also inherits a position that has been built to an elite level by Bryan. And it gives Bryan the opportunity to return to coaching the position he played and the one where he cut his teeth serving as a graduate assistant under wide receiver coach John Eason here at UGA. It also provides him with a new experience as a passing game coordinator.” -- Mark Richt, AB-H, 2/16/15